


Public Enemies: Homecoming

by SteveM



Series: Life after Crisis [7]
Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22753420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM
Summary: With time running out Supergirl and Batwoman are forced to turn to Lena Luthor in order to stop Lex's plans.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Series: Life after Crisis [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623199
Comments: 14
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

“You do know just how much Lena hates me right now?” Kara said, her eyes shining with tears.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Kate sighed, wrapping her lover in a hug. “But I don’t see any other option. Whatever Lex has done to Myriad she’s our best bet at shutting it down for good.”

“And what… what makes you think…”

“That she’s not in on it?” Kara nodded miserably as Kate explained. “You said it yourself, Lena never wanted to hurt anyone, human or alien. She’s lost her way but she’s still sticking to what she thinks is right. I can’t believe she’d knowingly be a part of this plan when it’s likely to kill thousands.”

Kara paused, wanting to believe Kate but felt fear claw at her heart. “I…. I don’t know Kate. She was pretty far gone just before the Crisis and I can’t imagine a couple of months working alongside Lex have done wonders for her mental state.”

Kate shrugged. “You may be right but the fact remains she’s still our best bet. The tricky part will be to get her to listen in the first place.”

Kara was silent for a long minute, her mind racing, fingers twisting around each other as she battled her fears. Then she drew a deep breath, pulled Kate towards her and kissed her.

“It’s got to be you.” Kara said softly into Kate’s ear, her arms still wrapped around the woman she loved. “I can’t do it, she wouldn’t listen, think it’s a trick.”

“I know…” Kate rubbed a hand over Kara’s back, trying to comfort her. “I’m sorry Kara but you’re right.”

“Just… just bring her back to us.” Kara said and now the tears did come. “It’s my fault she fell Kate, if I’d just… please save her.”

“I will, I promise.” Kate whispered. “But on one condition. Stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault. It’s… it’s years of being forced away from others, decades of not being able to trust, of being betrayed by family and over and over again until it’s easier to not feel anything at all.”

“Okay.” Kara’s reply was almost lost against Kate’s shoulder but it was enough. 

“Love you…” Kate breathed into the mass of blonde hair and she swore she could feel the smile against her shoulder.

“Love you too.” Kara replied then with a shaky breath drew herself together, the Girl of Steel once again. “Any idea how you’re going to get in to talk to her when that place is basically a fortress?”

“A couple.” Kate said confidently. “Though to be honest I’m kinda hoping I can just borrow Barry, that’d make things a lot easier.”

“True, but you’re also going to need to make sure you’re not disturbed.” Kara said and Kate threw her a sharp look.

“What are you thinking?”

“We need to get Lex out of town, force him to leave Lena alone.”

“Yes…?”

“I’m going to call him out. He’s painted this tale of Supergirl having betrayed humanity. Let’s use that. I know Lex, he’ll fall back to his mansion. Damn thing is one giant death trap. I’ll fight him there, buy you the time you need.”

“Yeah, about that *death trap* part…” Kate said, as intense as Kara had ever seen her. “Kara, this is suicidal. You’ve got no idea what might be waiting for you and this is Lex Luthor at the height of his powers and influence, you can’t go alone!”

“What choice have we got?” Kara said and her voice was calm, confident. “Anyone else would get flash fried even trying this. It’ll be alright Kate, I’ll be alright.” She smiled. “After all I’ve got someone to come back to now.”

Kate sighed, looking at the blonde who’d so effortlessly stolen her heart. “I’m not talking you out of this am I?”

“No.”

“Fine. But you’d better come back or you’re spending the afterlife getting pummelled by Batwoman, and not in a fun way, understand!”

“Yes Ma’am.” 

“Alright… I don’t like it but it’s your call. Come on, let’s knock this thing into shape before Nia calls back.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Kara this is crazy!” Nia said, her astral form seeming to grow brighter with her anger and concern. “Lex is going to be ready for you, you know that!”

“Don’t…” Kate held up a hand. “Trust me, we’ve already had this conversation.”

“It’s the only way Nia.” Kara said gently. “We can’t leave Myriad in Lex’s hands and if he turns it on thousands are going to die, maybe a lot more.”

“At least let us come with you!”

“No, I need you all ready to help contain things if we fail. If this goes wrong the people are going to need their heroes.”

“And who do you think they need most!” Nia shot back. “They look up to you Kara, we all do.”

“She’s not wrong.” Kate put in. 

“You shouldn’t.” Kara held up a hand to forestall the argument. “I mean, you don’t need to. You don’t need anything from me you don’t already have.”

“We can’t do what you do Kara.” Nia said gently. “I don’t mean throwing spaceships off the planet or, or taking anti-matter blasts like they were nerf bullets. You… there are times I think you can carry the whole world on your back, lift us all up, inspire us to be better than we are. We can’t match that.”

“Together you can. Together you can do anything.” Kara said with a smile. Nia sighed and held her hands up.

“Alright, fine, when even the Martian knows better than to argue with you it’s time to stop. Just, just be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

“You’d better. Other than being ready to pick up the pieces if this goes sideways what do you need from us?”

“Can you have Barry meet me on the roof of East 8th Street and Stamford Avenue?” Kate asked. “I’ll be the one in black.”

Despite everything Nia chuckled and nodded. “I’m sure he can be there and pick you out of the crowd. Any clue what he’s needed for.”

“A little light breaking and entering. We’re heading to Luthor Central.”

“I’ll tell him.” Nia promised. “Anything else?”

“Other than giving Alex that note? Uh… can you make sure everyone’s on comms if they’re needed? Oh, and I’d appreciate you giving Mary a quiet heads-up that we’ll need her help if she’s willing.”

“Of course. She really does think the world of you Kate and…” Nia glanced past to Kara with a small, mischievous smile. “… and I’m pretty sure she’s having thoughts about Kara that are unbecoming of a potential sister-in-law.”

Kara sighed and threw Nia an ‘et tu, Brute’ look but there was no real conviction behind it. 

“Yeah, I noticed.” Kate said, smirking. “Too bad I got there first, right sweetie?”

Kara nodded, trying to appear cool, calm and collected as the blush spread over her cheeks.

“Anyway, we’d better get to work.” Kate said, knowing that even with J’onn’s help sending her astral form so far was a huge strain on Dreamer. “We’ll see you soon Nia and thanks for everything.”

“Stay safe.” Nia replied before her ghostly body flickered away.

“So… you’re ready to do this?” Kate asked, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“Yeah, let’s get it over with.” Kara said, reaching up and pulling off her glasses to trigger the change into her super suit.

“You know no matter how many times I see you do that it’s still so damn cool.” Kate commented as the last of the nanotech fell into place.

“Benefits of having friends from a thousand years in the future.” Kara smirked before collecting herself. “Okay, ready when you are.”

Kate held up the phone, centred Kara in the viewfinder and hit the record button, giving her a thumbs up to show they were rolling.

“Hello. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to talk to you all. A few days ago you all saw footage of what looked like Supergirl stealing the alien registry database from the DEO.” Kara paused, pacing herself, trying to keep the nerves at bay. “I’m sorry to say that part was true. Lex Luthor, the head of the DEO and now the Secretary of Defense planned to make the system public knowing all of the security that he had installed around it would fail. Placing it online would have endangered tens of thousands of innocent lives and I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen.”

“What wasn’t true was Director Danvers trying to stop me or Batwoman attacking her. That was added digitally to make a public case that we were both dangerous and needed to be stopped, by any means necessary. In the days since we’ve been working together to investigate why Lex Luthor was so eager to make this catastrophic mistake. What we’ve uncovered is nothing less than the complete betrayal of everyone on this planet, human and alien alike. A plot to incite violence on a planetary scale and the tools, such as the robotic Dominator force you saw in London, to escalate the situation beyond anyone’s ability to control it.”

She took a breath, staring into the camera, focusing now on one man. “Lex we have the proof that links you to a myriad of crimes against multiple governments. Unlike you, however, I believe in giving everyone a chance. So I’m coming to see you, today, now. Help me shut down the weapons we’ve found, work with me to protect the earth… or let the people see you for who you really are. Your choice.” She finished with a disdainful look that sent a chill through Kate just seeing it through the screen. What it would do to Lex she had no idea but wished she could be there when it did.

“A ‘myriad’ of crimes? Really?” Kate asked, putting the phone down.

Kara shrugged. “Needed him to know we’re not bluffing and it was the least clunky way I could find to use it.”

“How about “a myriad ways to punch you in the face”?”

“Why spoil the surprise?”

“Talking of how, exactly, are we getting back to National City? As much as I like flying with you it’s a bit chilly in just the Batsuit.”

“Got that covered.” Kara held up what looked suspiciously like a normal wrist watch.

“And that is…?”

“A personal teleport, basically. This one’s set to open a portal about, oh, three blocks from my place. You take this, sneak into the city and meet up with Barry. I’ll fly in, let him see me coming, make sure he’s got some incentive to move.”

“I still hate that part of the plan.”

“I’m not exactly in love with it myself but unless you’ve got a better idea…?”

“No, and believe me I’ve been trying to come up with one.” Kate sighed as she pulled on the cowl, easing it in to position and quickly running through a systems check. 

“In that case… kiss for luck?”

“You waited until I’d got the full suit on to ask that didn’t you?”

“Possibly though that chin guard is kinda scratchy. It’s your eyes, they’re so hot in that cowl.”

An armoured hand snaked around Kara’s neck and pulled her close. For a blessed moment the rest of the world suddenly didn’t matter, just the woman pressed up against her, her warmth and presence filling Kara with life, with purpose. This, she thought, this is what had been missing. She would always fight to keep everyone safe but that was in many ways an abstract ideal. This was something real, something she could hold on to, touch and feel. Reluctantly Kara Danvers stepped back, her hands trailing across Kate’s back and sides, trying to hold on to her as long as she could. Her fingers fell away, her eyes opened… and Supergirl looked up.

“Woah…” Kate whispered. “You okay?”

“Never better.” Supergirl replied. “I’ll see you soon.” She turned to take to the skies and then paused. 

“I love you Kate.” The words hung on the air as she rocketed into the dark skies over London, her cape snapping in the wind.

“Love you too Kara.” Kate whispered, knowing somehow that Kara would still hear her, would hear her from the other side of the universe if needed. With a sigh she shook her head to clear the lingering worry and let herself slip into a combat mindset. Batwoman strapped the watch around her wrist and triggered the device, stepping through the swirling portal that opened up without a second thought. There was a moment of rushing cold then she found herself standing on a rooftop, the familiar lights of National City around her. A second later there was a flash of yellow lightning, a red blur and Barry Allen was standing next to her.

“Hi Flash.” She said with a small smile. “You’re right on time.”

“Guess this really is a whole new world.” Barry replied matching her smile with a grin. “What’s the plan here?”

“Basically? Get me from here to there.” Kate pointed at the Luthorcorp tower in the distance. “Preferably without tripping the security if possible.”

“Okay, well, that shouldn’t be too hard. And once we’re in?”

“Hide.”

“Hide?”

“Hide. Sorry Barry but this kinda hinges on getting Lena to trust me and it’s going to be hard enough one on one. Though if you could try and make sure we’re not disturbed that’d be great.”

“You’re the boss.” Barry said and meant it. Ever since he’d met Kate he was slightly in awe of her, not least for being a regular squishy human that could seemingly keep up with Supergirl, and was more than happy to play backup if that’s what she needed. Of course he hadn’t quite realised just how much she was keeping up with Supergirl until he’d seen the big announcement video but he couldn’t say he was shocked about that particular development.

“Now?” He asked but Batwoman held up a hand.

“Not yet, we need to make sure Lex has bailed out first.”

“Uh, and how, exactly are you going to do that?”

“Watch.” Kate pointed at the National City Jumbotron just visible over the low roofs ahead of them. Any time now she thought… Sure enough the screen froze for a moment then jumped to a video of Supergirl staring down the camera. “Hello. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to talk to you all.”

The footage played out even better than Kate had hoped, Kara’s expression even more intimidating on the giant screen than it had been in person. As the feed shut off she was in for a surprise as Mary had edited the video, adding a single image to the end that hung on the screen for what felt like an eternity. Kara’s familiar S logo in red with a carbon-fibre black bat entwined within it, the whole thing set against a rolling red sky. 

“Woah..” Barry said beside her but Kate’s mind was racing to the gift Kara had given her for her birthday. That same symbol from a thousand years in the future, a cornerstone of whatever Mon-El had built to keep that time safe.

“Well Mary, you wanted to make a difference…” Kate whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

The DEO was in complete chaos, sirens blaring as every sensor and alarm tripped at once.

“Where is she?” Alex called into the chaos.

“Mid-Atlantic at Mach 3.” The call came back and Alex had to fight to hide a smile. For Kara three times the speed of sound was barely above a walk, she wanted them to know she was coming and judging by the video that had just played on any screen connected to the Internet that message was aimed squarely at one man.

“Get the helicopter ready to fly.” She said to a field agent. “I’ll go talk to the boss. And someone turn those damn things down, we’re aware she’s coming!” 

The room went suddenly quiet as the alarms were shut off just as Brainy fell into step beside Alex.

“We’re not picking up any weapons on Supergirl.” He reported stiffly. Not that she needed them of course, Alex thought but good to know.

“I’m assuming you had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with that message getting such wide distribution?” Alex asked in a whisper.

“Of course not Director Danvers, our orders were clear. All of our orders were very, very clear.”

“That’s what I thought…” She raised her voice again. “Are you alright Agent Dox, you seemed… shaken by the message.”

“Everything is fine Director. It’s just…”

“Yes?”

“The image at the end. It…” Brainy searched for the words, skirting with the burden of future knowledge. “I have the strangest feeling it will stand the test of time.”

Alex blinked at that. Was Brainy saying… She glanced at him and saw the smallest nod of acknowledgment. Wow, she thought, a thousand years from now this was a moment they’d remember? Pretty damn cool… provided it didn’t also involve a funeral of course.

“Thank you Agent Dox, update me if anything changes with the target.”

“Yes Director.”

Alex climbed the stairs to the briefing room and saw a noticeably nervous Lex Luthor pacing behind the glass. She knocked and stepped inside.

“Sir?”

Lex looked up, annoyed. “Not now Alex, there’s no-one else here so you can drop the act. Your sister is coming here to kill me.”

“Doesn’t sound like something she’d do.” Alex pointed out, her fingers twitching, wishing she could just pull her sidearm and get this over with. Oh yes, she knew what Lex was, her memories of Earth 38 were firmly in place and she had seen him almost destroy Kara and corrupt Red Daughter, not to mention turn Lena against Kara and break her heart in the process.

“She may be different now after…” Lex said, trailing off and leaving Alex to wonder exactly what he knew that she obviously didn’t.

“I’ve prepared the helicopter for you… sir…. If you want to leave that is?”

Lex threw her a contemptuous look. “Well done Director, a truly breathtaking insight on my needs.”

“Will you want me to come with you?” Alex ground out, eyes flashing with anger.

Lex laughed hollowly. “Why so you can put a bullet or two in me like my dear sister once did? No, you can stay here with the rest of the DEO. I would order you to attack but we both know that’s a waste of time. When this is all over ‘Director’ Danvers I really must think about a purge of personnel around here.”

“Enjoy that Lex.” Alex said, turning on her heel to stalk out of the room. “Your ride’s waiting, don’t let it leave without you.”

She headed back down to the floor of the operations room and kept an eye on the local radar. As soon as she saw the small square marking the DEO transport leave the tower she turned to place her back to the huge floor to ceiling windows.

“Can I have your attention?” She called and was gratified to see every last agent immediately stop what they were doing. “You’ve all seen the video from Supergirl by now. You’ve all seen what we’ve been doing for the last few months since Lex took the DEO public.” She drew a deep breath, wondering if this was going to get her shot on the spot for treason.

“Supergirl is telling the truth.” Her voice rang out clear in the silence. “I was never attacked by Batwoman, never tried to stop Supergirl, never knew what she was doing until it was done. I’ve had Agent Dox check the broken copies of the system we still have. The data itself might be garbage but the rest is intact and Supergirl is right, there is nothing stopping any hacker from walking in and stealing everything.”

“All of you swore an oath to protect this planet and its people. I have been proud to serve alongside you for the past six years in pursuit of that ideal. Being part of starting a war between humanity and aliens does not seem to fit that oath!” She cast a careful eye around the room, saw Brainy slowly drifting to the right, noticed the new recruit tensing his shoulders…

“Until such time as the evidence can be assessed and any threat removed I am using my powers as Director of the DEO to temporarily suspend Lex Luthor from overall command authority. If any of you wish to leave you may do so, no note will be made on your records.”

The recruit moved, his hand plucking his weapon from its holster, drawing a bead on Alex. Or at least he was until Brainy twisted his wrist up, plucked the gun from his grasp and hurled him face first into the nearby wall. As he fell back two other DEO agents stepped forward, caught his arms and escorted him non-too-gently from the room.

“Anyone else?” Alex said casually and heard a faint chuckle from somewhere on the balcony above. “Then let’s get to work. Stand down any units on potential intercept with Supergirl, let her get to wherever she’s going. Brainy, see if you can start back tracking any of the claims she made, start with that Dominator attack in London. If the DEO has been involved in any of this down to providing toilet paper for something off the grid I want to know about it! The rest of you start searching the building, Let’s find out if there’s any surprises in here we don’t know about. Division leads to provide reports every fifteen minutes. Move!”

As the mass of people started hurrying in every direction Alex stepped to one side and pulled her phone from her pocket. Checking that everyone was too busy to notice she sent a simple six word text to Kara then snagged an agent as they ran by,

“I need you to get something from the arsenal, locker 10, shelf 3 in secure storage B. Got it?”

“Got it Director.” The Agent said, saluting and hurrying off leaving Alex to worry not just about the DEO but what might happen to her sister before this was all over.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Supergirl felt her phone buzz and carefully pulled it from the hidden pocket on her shoulder. 

“Lex is gone, DEO is mine.”

“Way to go Alex!” Kara said proudly. Not that she’d had any doubts of course, there were days she considered Alex to be a force of nature especially once she put her mind to something. Replacing the phone she reached up and tapped her ear piece. The comm chimed as it found the global network Felicity had set up for the Justice League’s personal systems then gave a single pulse as it locked on to her partner.

“We’re on.” Supergirl said and poured on the speed as, half a world away, Batwoman smiled.

“Okay Flash, Kara’s scared the shit out of Lex so we’re up. Ready for this?”

“Always!” Barry stepped forward then hesitated.

“Problem?”

“Uh, well for this to work I need to carry you and… umm…”

Batwoman smiled and stepped forward so she could whisper to the nervous man in the form fitting suit. “Don’t worry, Kara won’t pummel you for carrying me bridal-style, I promise.”

“Can I have that in writing.”

“Not right now, no.”

Still slightly reluctant Barry scooped Kate into his arms. “Okay, hang on, this will feel… a little weird.”

The world blurred, lightning crackling around them as the city flew by, gravity seemingly taking a holiday as Barry ran down the building before effortlessly threading through traffic that looked like it was standing still. Then in one stomach churning lurch they were racing up the Luthorcorp tower as Barry side-stepped any external feature that looked suspicious. Kate wished mightily that she could close her eyes until it was all over but she was Batwoman and if there was one thing she needed to show to the world it was courage. Even if that was the courage not to throw up from the world suddenly making no sense whatsoever.

That fight suddenly got a lot harder as Barry started to shake, vibrating both himself and Kate until with a sickening feeling of moving sideways while travelling forwards they phased through the outside wall to arrive in a darkened corridor. Barry stood still for a moment, the lightning still crackling around him.

“See anything?” He asked.

“Uh… no.” Kate replied, the eyes of the cowl white as she scanned their surroundings. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh, sorry, we’re still moving in the speed force but as you’re holding on to me you’re moving at the same speed so it’s like the world’s slowed down to a crawl. We call it Flash Time!” He grinned proudly and then felt the smile freeze and dribble down his face at the white-eyed glare that was thrown his way. 

“Cute.” Batwoman growled. “I think we’re safe, put me down and, uh, slow down. But be ready to get moving really quickly if we’ve got this wrong!”

Carefully Barry did as he was told and eased them out of Flash Time. To their collective relief no weapons popped out of the walls and no guards came rushing to see what an unseen alarm was about.

“Nice job Flash.” Batwoman said quietly. “Keep an eye on things out here, I’m going to try and do the impossible.”

“You seem to be good at that.” Flash said warmly and was rewarded with the tiniest of smiles as Batwoman nodded her agreement before slipping down the hall. The cowl had already picked up the heat signature of the woman she was here to talk to and from what Kate could tell she was all alone, watching a large screen sitting on a long bench couch with its back to the slightly-open door. As she got closer the surveillance systems in her earpieces picked up the news report the woman was clearly watching.

“As you can see Supergirl has been intercepted in her headlong flight across the country by these unknown forces. They seem to be unmanned but are firing what we can only assume are Kryptonite blasts of some sort at the Girl of Steel.”

Batwoman felt her heart jump into her throat and she slipped forward until she could see through the crack in the door. On the screen a remote camera was struggling to keep up with the action as Supergirl raced through the sky above what looked like a dozen large armoured tanks, their gun barrels tracking her and firing green bolts into the sky. Immediately though it became clear that the weapons of war were horribly outmatched. Supergirl simply waited for one to fire then fell like a rock, smashing through its turret before turning at right angles to burst out of the front or back, keeping the rest of the rapidly dwindling force from firing on her as she regained the high ground. 

“Oh Lex… what have you done.” Lena said in a quiet, sad voice and Kate realised she was never going to get a better line. She stepped forward and pulled the door open, stepping out of the dark like a spectre materialising from the afterlife.

“I’m afraid you don’t know the half of it Lena.”


	4. Chapter 4

To her credit Lena didn’t do much more than jump at the unexpected voice and had seemingly gotten herself under control by the time she turned around. She eyed the newcomer appraisingly and found herself impressed. The theatrics were maybe a bit over the top, especially the bat ears, but it was undoubtedly effective. Against the typical street thug it’d probably put the fear of god into them. Much more impressive was the woman inside it who carried herself with a grace and poise that reminded Lena strongly of Supergirl. Only here the compassion that radiated out from Kara like a beacon was missing, replaced with a dreadful sense of purpose.

“I won’t bother wasting our time asking how you got in.” Lena said coldly. “Are you here to kill me?”

That hadn’t been the way Kate had seen the conversation going but it wasn’t the first time it had happened either. She shook her head.

“Actually I’m here to ask for your help.”

“My help?” The laugh was empty, hollow. “I thought you heroes had decided Luthors weren’t to be trusted.”

Batwoman stepped forward, her voice surprisingly gentle. “If I may say so you seem to place a great many burdens on your last name Lena.”

That surprised the other woman Kate could see and it took her a second to find her metaphorical feet again. “Only as much as the rest of the world does Batwoman.”

“Really? And what do you think the rest of the world thinks of you Ms Luthor?”

“Well thanks to Lex they love me but we both know the truth. It’s a name that’s hated, feared… or was… and will be again once this is over and Lex’s madness is laid bare for the world to see. After that I’ll be fighting every moment of my life for respect, to earn my way because no-one in their right mind would ever trust a Luthor once they knew the truth. And I’ll be doing it alone because anyone I let close will always believe the worst of me,”

Batwoman stepped around the end of the couch and now there was nothing between the two women. “You’re that certain of the future?”

“I’ve seen it before. I remember it all. Yes I’m certain.”

Batwoman shrugged. “You’re not used to being wrong are you Lena?”

Another mirthless laugh. “No, I rarely am.”

“Well in this case you may be surprised.” Batwoman reached up and pulled her cowl off, leaving it on the couch beside them, “Kate, Kate Kane. Pleasure to meet you at last Lena Luthor.”

Lena could only stare, caught completely off guard. Oh she’d been pretty sure who Batwoman was, the news had been full of Kara and Kate’s romance the last few days and it was far too large a coincidence not to be linked to Supergirl and Batwoman going on the run. But for it to be put front and centre like this, and from a Bat no less…

“Why?” It was all Lena could think of to say.

“Because you’ve been stuck in the middle of all of this for far too long. Trapped by… by your name, by circumstances, by others around you and, yes, your own mistakes. This isn’t about masks or names or trust.” Kate gestured at the screen where Kara had just smashed the last tank to pieces and was rapidly burning through the air towards the west coast of America.

“I know Kara hurt you. No, sorry.” She held a hand up to forestall Lena’s protest. “Hurt isn’t the right word. Betrayed you. Betrayed your trust despite knowing what would happen. I don’t blame you for being furious at her, at the world.”

“Is this the point you beg me to forgive her?”

“No, actually. It’s the point I say this isn’t about Kara and you. It’s about you and the world. I need your help to save it and we’re running out of time. Because you’re right, Lex is about to be dragged into the light of day and everyone will judge him for that. But the last time that happened it was on a different world and now… now you’ve got a chance you never had.”

“And what’s that?”

“Fight him. Prove to the world that the name Luthor really does stand for everything he claimed it did, everything he lied to achieve for himself in this world. Everything he has he took from you Lena… take it back!”

Lena stared at the armour clad woman staring into her eyes with such intensity she felt like she may catch on fire. “You… you haven’t told me what you need from me.”

“Lex has Myriad.”

“What!?! Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

“Because you needed to know why I’m asking. Don’t do this out of guilt or duty, do it to prove the bastard wrong! To show the whole damn planet why they should respect and trust you!”

Lena froze then, very slowly, felt her first genuine smile in months cross her lips. “I can see why Kara loves you.”

Kate shrugged but the small smile told Lena a great deal. “Actually, on that note, Kara gave me this for you. She said I’d know when to give it you but made me swear not to use it to try and convince you to help.”

Kate handed over a small data stick and Lena slipped it into a data reader on the TV screen. Immediately a giant image of Kara’s face appeared, clearly talking into a phone camera.

“Lena…” Kara sighed and bit her lip. “If you’re seeing this then Batwoman’s come to talk to you. I told her not to use this to try and entice you to help and that’s not what this is about. It’s just… I owe you an explanation and I never got the chance to really give it to you.”

“About a year, maybe a little less, after we met Alex was kidnapped. Not by an alien or some ancient, unstoppable force. By a guy that went to school with us and figured out who I was and what she was to me. He took her and with a lot of planning managed to stop me finding her. He wanted us to free his father from prison… but we refused. Finally his father gave us the clue we needed but… we got there too late.”

Kara blinked back tears, clearly remembering the dreadful day. “When I broke the door down she was there, floating in a tank of water, filled to the brim, drowned. Dead.” She choked down a sob. “We brought her back but it was so, so close. Ten seconds maybe and she’d have been gone. All thanks to some random person who made that connection and got the drop on a trained DEO agent.”

She looked straight into the camera. “I wanted to tell you every day Lena, I really did. But every time I thought about it I saw Alex hanging there, cold, gone… and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t imagine seeing you… “ Her voice broke and she looked away. “It was selfish and I should have trusted you and I’m sorry, so so sorry. But at least now you know the truth.” She looked like she wanted to say more but instead reached out and flicked off the camera.

Lena was suddenly aware of two things: That she hadn’t taken a breath since Kara had started talking and that Kate Kane was holding her hand in sympathy. Lena glanced over and saw the tears falling down Kate’s face.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No and that’s the first I saw that video. How does that woman have so much pain in her yet so much…”

“Love?” Lena said softly. “Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“She didn’t ask for forgiveness. Just told me the truth.”

“She wanted you to know, especially if….” Now it was Kate’s turn to swallow hard and Lena pulled her around to face her.

“No, she’s coming back!” Lena said and was surprised by the strength of her conviction. More surprising still was that the anger she’d been feeling for so long about Kara Danvers was suddenly gone, burnt out at last. “We’ll sort out the rest later but right now you said Lex has Myriad?”

“Some sort of modified system, yes, with enough of Scarecrow’s fear toxin linked to it to warp the minds of half the planet.”

“Where?”

Kate rattled off the six buildings they’d found as Lena flicked on her computer. “Okay, let’s get to work!”

“I’m not exactly a computer whizz but tell me what I can do to help.”

Lena glanced up, her fingers already flying over the keyboard and felt a part of her she’d thought long gone peak above the surface. “Sit still, look pretty?” She suggested with a wink before focusing on the screen.

Kate shook her head in mock exasperation while mentally shouting in triumph. There might be a long, long way to go but it was just possible that the Lena whom Kara wouldn’t shut up about could make it back to them…


	5. Chapter 5

A hundred miles to the north east Supergirl was busy freezing a swarm of robotic bees armed with Kryptonite stingers into one single solid mass before dropping the whole lot into a cement mixer. As she’d drawn closer to Lex’s mansion the attacks had become more frequent but so far none had done any serious damage. Now she stood in front of the gates, wishing there was another way to do this. Not for Lex’s sake of course, definitely not, but she’d just found her place in the world after so many years never really feeling like she’d be at home here. Now the most dangerous man she’d ever faced might be able to take it all away from her. Part of her wanted to turn and walk away, fly away, fly back to Kate and go hide away from all the pain and misery her mere existence seemed to bring. But if she did, if she abandoned so many innocents for her own selfish desires, she knew she wouldn’t be herself anymore, wouldn’t be the woman Kate had fallen in love with.

The gates parted as if they were made of tissue paper and she strode down the main driveway. The decorative pillars snapped open, automated machine gun turrets popping out to target her. Before they could fire a shot her heat vision had turned them all to slag. A crackle from her right was the only warning of a thick steel net launching at her, enough electricity flowing through it to arc even as it was in flight. She caught it in one hand and tore it apart.

As she neared the front door a wall of flame erupted in a ten foot wide circle with her in the centre. She strode through it, her cape rising and billowing out behind her in the heat. The front doors had been designed to withstand anti-tank munitions but they fell in a single punch. The house lay open before her and she stepped inside without pause, focused on ending the threat Lex posed to the world once and for all.

“Damn him!” Lena bit back a stream of expletives as she threw her hands up in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” Kate asked, at her side so quickly Lena genuinely thought it was Kara for an instant.

“When I modified Myriad I used Lex’s old data files to translate all the Kryptonian to English. He’s taken that software out, put it all back as it was.”

“Let me guess, you don’t read Kryptonian?”

“A little but nowhere near enough for this!”

Kate thought furiously. “If I can get someone in to translate can you tell them what to do?”

“I… yes, yes probably.”

“Okay, give me a minute.”

Kate pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number.

“Batwoman, what’s wrong?” Alex asked, instantly alert.

“Lex took out the English translation for Myriad. We need someone who can understand Kryptonian and English.”

“I’ll get Brainy to…”

“No, you need to keep Brainy in the DEO in case Lex has any nasty backup surprises we might not know about.”

“Then who… oh. Oh, okay, I’ll make the call.”

“Thanks Alex.” Kate said hanging up and hoping this was going to work.

“So who, exactly, are you planning on bringing in here?” Lena asked, clearly on the edge of panic. “In case you hadn’t noticed our only other expert is fighting my brother on his own ground!”

“Not our only other expert…” Kate said and by sheer luck timed it perfectly. There was a thud from the corridor outside as something landed heavily, breaking through the outside wall in the process. The door opened and a very familiar red and blue suited figure walked in the room, cape flowing behind them as they hurried towards the desk.

“Superman…” Lena breathed and there was suddenly a very worried look in her eyes.

“Alex said you needed my help Lena. And please, call me Clark.” 

Lena physically jerked back. Again, she’d been pretty damn sure she knew the identity of the Man of Tomorrow, once you knew Kara’s secret a lot more followed it. But to have it confirmed this way…

“We do.” She admitted. “And… thank you.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Here.” Lena slid out of her seat and pulled up a laptop next to the main computer. “If I type in English here can you enter the equivalent Krpytonian on that system?”

“And I presume the same the other way round so you can see what happens on Myriad?”

“Exactly!”

“No problem.”

Kate took up a watching brief a little way back from the Luthor and the Super as they set to work. It was remarkable to watch, the best of human genius flying through her work, keeping multiple problems in her head at once while directing the Kryptonian in his efforts. Clark, for his part, worked at a speed that was surely only limited by the response time of the computer. The moment a Kryptonian message popped up on Myriad he’d instantly provided the English translation in another window. 

As they worked they fell into sync, Lena trusting Clark to handle the routine problems while she concentrated on the larger issues. Kate shook her head in wonder at the lost opportunities for the entire planet all thanks to a last name. Well, she thought hopefully, maybe this is where that changes.

“Got it!” Lena called triumphantly and on the screen in front of Clark the scrolling Kryptonian writing froze, glitched and died.

“What did you do?” Kate asked.

“Basically we rewrote it.” Lena said with a hint of her usual confidence returning. “Convinced the system that every reading, every sensor it had was returning zero. Catastrophic failure state and the original design had it shutting down rather than risking cooking everyone’s heads.”

“And that’s worldwide?”

“Yes, the other buildings you found were just remote nodes, the only real control point was here in the tower and that’s very much shut down. Probably for good unless you’ve got a Kryptonian doing the typing with the amount of damage we did.”

Batwoman breathed a sigh of relief then dove forward, her armoured body getting between Lena and the red dot she’d just noticed on her back. The bullet bounced off the batsuit but she felt the impact and hissed in pain. A fraction of a second later and Clark was there, his body between them and the shooter, his cape flicking round to try and wrap both women in its bullet proof fabric.

“No!” Kate said, ducking back. “It’s not enough for both of us and I’ve got my own. Keep her safe Superman, I’ll help K.. Supergirl!” 

Clark looked like he wanted to argue but nodded and, with Lena carefully held in his arms and safely covered by his cape, flew out of the apartment and left the building by the hole he’d made on his way in.

An instant later a blur of yellow lightning came to rest by Kate and the Flash dropped a gun to the floor. “Got the sniper, looks like he was alone.”

“He was after Lena… I think Lex has decided she’s not worth keeping alive.” Batwoman told him. “Superman will protect her, for now we’ve got to help Supergirl.”

“So to Lex’s mansion then?”

“Sort of. As long as the security systems are up you won’t be able to get in.”

“Wait, wouldn’t Supergirl have destroyed those already.”

“No, only the weapon systems. The cloaking field is run from the main control hub in the house and according to this it’s still on.” Batwoman tapped a screen on her gauntlet as she rattled out orders. “I need you to get close and be ready to come in when that cloak drops, okay? But first run as fast as you can to the DEO and grab a package from Alex.”

Barry didn’t question the order and simply vanished in a burst of wind and lightning. At the DEO Alex was standing in front of the main display when Flash suddenly zipped to a halt beside her.

“Director Danvers, Batwoman said you had…” Alex thrust a small box into his hands and just like that he was gone again.

A moment later and the box was in Batwoman’s hands who gave it a quick glance and nodded. “Okay, get going and be ready when we need you.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ve got my own way in…” Batwoman reached to her other gauntlet and Flash just had time to see an old fashioned analogue watch strapped there before there was a blaze of blue light and she vanished into a portal.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very quick content warning: one scene here goes into full on horror territory. I don't believe it's enough to warrant a graphic depiction of violence tag and should be covered by the mature rating but wanted to flag it up here just in case...

“Ah, Ms Danvers, so good of you to join us.” Lex was sitting casually in a chair that was a coat of gold paint away from being a throne. Slightly behind him and to his right was a tall metal humanoid figure, a glowing green heart exposed in its chest. “Do you like my new Metallo? He’s had some upgrades since Earth 38.”

Kara didn’t reply as she was too busy trying not to scream. The presence of so much Kryptonite so close was like having every inch of her flesh on fire and it had driven her to her knees before Lex Luthor. She struggled for control, to push through the never-ending pain… but no matter what she did it eluded her.

“Now I could just let you expire from the radiation but if our little adventures have taught me nothing else it’s not to play around when it comes to you Kara.” Lex said, gesturing and sending Metallo walking towards her, a broadsword from his collection of antiques in its hands. “You know you should be proud of that, your cousin never gave me so much trouble.”

“We’ll…. We’ll stop you Lex.” Kara panted, trying to rock herself away from the pain but only managing to sink back, sitting on her feet now but she forced herself to stay upright, determined to meet death as best she could.

“No. *They* may stop me, though I doubt it. You, however, will not be there to see it.”

She heard the clink of metal on metal as Metallo drew back the sword, a single decapitating blow aimed at her neck.

“Kate, I’m so sorry.” She thought… and suddenly there was a pop as a black clad figure rolled out of a swirling blue portal just a few feet from Lex’s chair. It hit the ground and continued the roll, moving so quickly everyone froze in shock. From the centre of the shape something flew towards Kara, hitting her square in the chest and suddenly, flowing over her like water, Lena’s Kryptonite proof suit formed in a heartbeat. Instantly the radiation sickness vanished and Kara dove clear of the the sword as it fell. She saw Batwoman finish her combat roll and stand up, glance at Lex then nod at her. She got her feet underneath her, turned and hurled herself at the giant metal figure, ramming it through the nearest wall and up into the rest of the vast mansion.

“Your turn.” Batwoman snarled as Lex backed up.

“Not quite yet.” He said as he tapped his wrist and his Lex-o-suit started to form around him. Kate had been ready though, well aware of Lex’s bag of tricks. Before he’d even finished the tap she’d hurled a small disc in his direction and it landed perfectly on the leading edge of the metal suit. There was a flash and Lex hissed in pain as the entire suit short-circuited and the transformation sequence shut down.

“As I said… your turn.” Batwoman growled the words, raising what looked like a medium sized torch with a single control on one end. She thumbed it on and instantly every light in the place went dead. She ducked silently to the right just as Lex used the one completed gauntlet to send a blast of energy through the space she’d been standing. He turned, trying to pierce the blackness but Batwoman had vanished.

Trying to keep himself calm Lex gathered his thoughts and turned, hands outstretched. His left hand up in front of him, the weapons in the metal gauntlet primed and ready. His right waved in the air, searching for… yes! It touched a wall and his mental map of the room snapped into focus. He edged along the hard surface, turned the corner and his fingers brushed the wood surface of the door.

Sparks flew as something metallic and razor-sharp plunged into the lock, shattering the mechanism and shorting it out.

“No Lex, you’re not leaving.” The voice echoed from the darkness, bouncing strangely and leaving him no hint as to a target. Cursing he edged round, placing the door to his back, moving as silently as he could towards the corner he’d just passed.

“You spend your life manipulating people. Playing games with no thought to the cost.” Another fountain of sparks burst from the corner he was heading for before he could take more than a couple of steps. He froze, mind racing…

“How many spend their lives in fear because of you?” He edged cautiously into the room, his right hand brushing a display case. Quickly he followed it up to the plinth, pulled the 16th century sword from its sheath. He started shuffling forward, the tip of the blade testing the space in front of him. There was a whisper of movement from behind him and the weapon was ripped from his grasp, clattering away into the darkness. He spun, left arm raising to fire a bolt of energy after his attacker but it sizzled through empty space.

“How does it feel Lex? How does it feel to live in fear?” He turned back, the brief glimpse he’d had of the room letting him orientate himself again. He took two more steps before unseen hands wrapped around his left arm, twisted and, impossibly, tore the weapon gauntlet apart with a screech of metal cutting metal. He braced for a punch but it never came leaving him alone in the dark, the all-consuming blackness closing in around him.

“How does it feel to be hunted?” The words were whispered against the back of his neck and he spun round but far, far too late. Armoured fists slammed into his stomach, driving the breath from his body. A knee slammed up, shattering a rib before an uppercut knocked him back. A devastating kick caught him in the chest and he flew backwards, smashing through the chair he’d so recently been dispensing executions from, landing in a pile of rubble. 

Something flew to the ceiling and a sudden harsh white light flooded the room. He lay gasping, pain shooting through his body as the dark shape eclipsed the light, backlit and terrifying, the stuff of nightmares.

“How does it feel to be the prey?” Batwoman snarled and punched down, her fist breaking his nose. Everything in her wanted to keep going, to keep punching until there was nothing but blood and bone beneath her… but that was a line she knew she could not cross, not if she ever wanted to return from it. Instead she flipped a set of cuffs from her belt and leant down to snap them around Lex’s wrists.

The only warning she had was the twitch of movement as Lex slammed his teeth together then blew a stream of green vapour into her unprotected face even as he slammed a knee into her gut. She lurched back, trying to hold her breath but knowing it was already too late, the instinctive gasp from the impact drawing the mist into her lungs.

“How does it feel to live in fear?” Lex gasped, easing himself into a sitting position. “You tell me!”

Kate watched, horrified, as the world around her seemed to shiver as flames burst out of every surface. She turned her head to stare at Lex as his skin melted away to reveal a grinning deaths head skull.

“Concentrated fear toxin. Lethal if you’ve not been immunised against it which… oh, you haven’t, have you?” The skull shook in laughter as the rest of the body dissolved leaving a skeleton figure draped casually against the burning pyre. “It overloads the mind, forces you to experience horrors until your heart can’t keep up and… *boom*” The skeleton mimed a small explosion as the fire melted into oozing lava, ghostly figures rising, burning, screaming from its depths. She recognised them.. no! No! She tried to scream but no sound escaped her lips as she scrabbled backwards, away from the rotting, flaming corpse of her father as he reached for her. She turned and jerked away from Sophie’s face, ruined almost beyond recognition by a thousand cuts, one perfect eye staring accusingly. As she tumbled a decaying hand latched on to the cowl and tore it away into the destruction around her.

She landed at Mary’s feet and looked up in time to see Beth slit her throat. Beth, not Alice but Beth, a serene smile on her face as she let Mary fall to lie inches from Kate’s horrified eyes, her last words lost in a bubble of blood. A moment later Beth’s body joined her, the knife rammed through her own heart, her hand landing on Kate’s face. Desperately she scrambled backwards and through the terror one word escaping her lips, whispered so quietly that it was lost in the scrape of her cape on the wall behind her.

“Kara..”

The hordes of the dead and dying flowed towards her, their bloody remains reaching out ready to pull her into the molten magma with them. Her fingers grazed her belt, tried to pull a Batarang but the terror was too strong, the shaking too great and the metal clattered away, burning in turn. With a roar of masonry the ceiling above her collapsed and a new figure joined the scene except… except this one wasn’t burning. Wasn’t bleeding. Wasn’t disfigured. It hung there for a moment, a shimmering golden glow as the forces below looked up and screamed their anger. The fire reached out to claim it and Kate tried to shout a warning, tried to force her to turn away, to run before she was damned alongside her but it was too late. The flamed engulfed her…

… and flowed around her like a lover, racing up her back and fanning out forming wings of fire. Her light burst into the hellscape beneath and the demons around Kate shrank back. She landed in the middle of the lava lake and it fled before her, rolling back and into the ground as if it had never been. The brutalised shapes around Kate hissed and threw themselves forward towards the glowing figure but as they neared her they faded and vanished.

The last was Beth, her hands still covered with Mary’s blood as she ripped the knife from her own chest and spun behind Kate, the blade at her throat. The figure knelt in front of them both, the light dazzling as she wrapped her arms around Kate, her wings reaching around to cover Beth. Kate felt the fire burn the corpse of her sister from her but it never touched Kate herself. All that she felt was warmth and compassion and love. Her eyes flickered open and the glow faded, her heart slowed, her lungs gasped for air and Kara’s face swam into view above her, blue eyes anchoring Kate to the world.

“Kate? Kate can you hear me? Come on, fight it! Come back to me…” The voice slowly penetrated the fog around Kate’s mind and she hung on for grim death. The flames were gone, the room around her solidified again into metal and wood. The roaring of her pulse eased away and she suddenly felt the pounding of Kara’s heart as the other woman held her tightly.

“Kara? You…. You were on fire….” Kate murmured, her hand tracing the tear-streaked cheek in front of her. “You… you saved me.”

“Always.” Kara whispered.

“No… no that’s not possible! No-one can fight through that much fear!” Lex snarled from behind them and Kara turned her head with murderous intent. Her heat vision flared and at the last second she jerked her gaze to the side, smashing the hidden control panel on the far wall. A moment later there was a red blur and the Flash was standing beside a bound Lex Luthor. He glanced over at the two women and was instantly by their side.

“What happened, is she?”

“I’ll… I’ll be alright.” Kate said weakly. “Fear toxin, concentrated. Kara saved me.”

“You saved yourself.” Kara corrected softly, her hands shaking as she brushed Kate’s cheek. 

“Kara? Kara are you there?” Alex’s voice rang in Kara’s commlink and the urgency was obvious.

“Yes I’m here. What’s happening?”

“Lex’s mansion just appeared on our scanners but something’s going on. At the exact moment the mansion popped up every Luthorcorp building around the world launched dozens, maybe hundreds of high altitude drones! Brainy thinks we’ve got about twenty minutes until they reach their optimal poison.”

Kara turned to Lex, her blood running cold. “What did you do?”

“Me? I did nothing. You’re the one who tripped my failsafe by destroying this humble abode’s defences.”

“What’s in the drones, more fear toxin?”

“Hardly, it’s a crude toy anyway and not exactly reliable.” Lex sent a disappointed look at the recovering Batwoman. “What you’re looking at there Super friends, is Myriad 2.0! A giant network of transmitters that send out one single, concentrated pulse. When it hits it’ll permanently rewrite the human mind, add a little ride along into their DNA. It’ll get passed down through the generations and makes sure they all see the truth.”

“What truth is that?” Kara snarled but Lex merely smiled serenely.

“Lex loves you.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Holy shit… “ Kara turned to Kate as she struggled to her feet. “He’s going to turn himself into a god! Everyone in the world convinced, at a genetic level, that he’s the saviour he tried to create after Crisis!”

“No…” Kara breathed.

“Got it in one. And you can’t stop it Supergirl. Oh you might stop the pulse here or maybe over half the country but there’s no way you or your friends can take enough down to save everyone. And once it’s done… they’re changed for good.” Lex laughed at the shock his words caused, fear palpable in the air around them. 

Kara looked at the Flash with desperate hope. “Barry, can you…?”

Barry shook his head sadly. “I could maybe reach them in time but they’re 30,000 feet up!”

“So we get Kal and J’onn moving, together we can save… some, at least save some!”

“Kara…” Barry stepped towards her. “Listen to me..” He put a hand on her shoulder and they blurred as he pushed them both into Flash Time. Kate blinked and they were back standing solidly in front of her but there was a new look in Kara’s face that scared Kate worse than anything she’d seen under the influence of Scarecrow’s fear gas.

“One moment.” Kara said quietly to Barry and hurried over to Kate. “We’ve got a plan but… but it’s dangerous, Kate. I might….” Her voice caught and Kate brushed her cheek with her palm.

“I know Kara, it’s okay… go be a hero. Save the world.”

“I love you.” Kara said and Kate grabbed her, kissing her with fierce desperation as if this would be the last time she ever could.

“I love you too. Come back to me….” Kate whispered then let her hands fall.

“I will.” Kara promised, turning back to Barry. “Okay… do it.”

Barry nodded and reached out, placing his right hand palm first on Kara’s heart. The world seemed to pause as if holding its breath… then a blinding flash of lightning burst from Barry’s hand to wrap around the Girl of Steel. Barry flew backwards and Kate managed to get behind him, cushioning the blow. As they lay on the ground the light seemed to become brighter and then there came the scream.

Kara hung in the middle of the room, arms and legs thrown back, her neck straining, eyes burning as lightning crackled and earthed itself around her. Her body blurred, ghosted, seemed to be in two, three, four places at once. She howled in wordless pain, as if every molecule of her was being torn apart. Kate tried to scramble back to her feet, to help her, to save her… but Barry warped an arm around her.

“No, no she’s the only one that can do this, it’d rip you to pieces!”

Even as he spoke they saw the lightning seem to twist and bend, flowing down Kara’s limbs, wrapping around her like an otherworldly embrace. The flickering, twisting outlines of so many version of her snapped back into one and she fell, panting, to the ground, landing on all fours. Kate and Barry both reached towards her… and gasped simultaneously as Kara looked up. Her face could have been carved from stone, her body shaking from the power it fought to contain and in her eyes the lightning burned.

“She did it…” Barry breathed. “Kara, Kara if you can hear me you did it. The speed force… it’s yours now. Use it.”

Kara went to stand but buckled, falling back to her knees. Before Barry could stop her Kate darted forward and kissed her lover, giving her a link back to the world, something real, something to hang on to. For a moment Kara focused on Kate and through the grim determination the ghost of a smile flickered. And Kate knew exactly what she needed to hear…

“Fly Kara, Fly…”

The house above them seemed to explode as Supergirl leapt into the heavens. Her mind raced as the speed force wrapped around her, met her Kryptonian speed and merged. She found the first drone directly above the mansion, turned and shot towards the west. The world beneath blurred as behind her lightning crackled across the sky. Not the yellow lightning of Barry or the red of Thawne or even the blue of Zoom but pure, brilliant white.

She flew faster than the wind, faster than thought, circling the planet in what seemed like a heartbeat. She smashed through drone after drone, the sheer speed of the impact leaving nothing but ash to fall on those below. On and on, covering every mile, every inch of this world she’d come to think of as her own. And in her wake, in every last corner of the globe, the sky burned white. Aliens and humans alike looked up as one, bearing witness to the last daughter of Krypton as she stood between them and the darkness.

In the remains of the mansion Kate and Barry were frozen, looking up through the giant hole at the gleaming sky overhead. Barry tapped his comm as Kate held vigil. “Alex… is it working?”

“70% of the drones are destroyed… what did you do!”

“I gave her my speed…”

“You gave… wait, that’s Kara!”

“Yes.”

“She’s… she’s…”

“She’s magnificent, Alex.” Barry breathed, a sudden memory crashing over him. Oliver Queen, convinced that Kara and Barry were the ‘best of us’. Now, here, in this moment… “You were right, Ollie.” Barry whispered, looking up. “Oh you were right.”

“That’s it, they’re all down!” Alex called over the comm and from the other side of the planet Kara heard her sister’s voice and changed her course.

An instant later Supergirl crashed to the ground precisely where she’d launched from. Barry jumped forward, his hand reaching for her twitching body and there was a second blinding burst of light as he reclaimed the Speed force before it tore her apart. Kate pulled Kara up into her lap, fingers feeling for a pulse.

“Hey…” A hand wrapped around hers and the faint voice seemed to restart her world. She looked down and saw Kara staring back up at her. “Did… did it work?”

“It did, you did. Are you…”

Kara drew a deep breath and nodded. “I will be. Might want to sleep for a month but I will be.”

“Barry?” Kate called and the Flash stood up, slightly wobbly on his feet.

“Yeah, oh I never want to do that again… Kara! Is she, are you?”

“I’m good Barry. Thank you.”

“Alex.” Kate tripped her comm and heard the sharp intake of breath from the Director of the DEO.” Supergirl’s fine, just exhausted. Is there any chance you can send a ride for us, we’re still technically wanted felons after all.”

The relieved laugh sounded more like a sob but Kate got the message. “I think we can manage that. Hopefully by the time you get here we’ll have that little misunderstanding sorted out.”

“Thanks Director Danvers.” Kate said with a smile. “We’ll be waiting.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you got the wings reference in chapter 6, congratulations you too have read some really *weird* Supergirl comics... Couldn't help throwing it in along with a few other little nods. Hope everyone enjoyed the action-packed finale but we're not quite done yet with the epilogue waiting just a click away...


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